This postseason is reminding the Blues just how much more building they must do.
The four teams left standing in the conference finals are well-established powerhouses. While anything can happen in the playoffs — as the Blues demonstrated during their epic 2019 Cup run — playoff-tested overdogs tend to advance.
The tight-checking Carolina Hurricanes are in their seventh straight postseason under coach Rod Brind’Amour. This is their third final four in that span and their fifth season with 99 or more points.
The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers got Our Town’s Matthew Tkachuk healthy for their title defense. They just blew up the star-studded Toronto Maple Leafs in their Game 7 showdown.
The Edmonton Oilers have two of the world’s top five players in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. This is their third final four in six years, and they took Florida to Game 7 in last year’s compelling Cup showdown.
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The Dallas Stars are on their third straight final four. They earned 106 or more points during each of the past three years, and they added superstar Mikko Rantanen on the fly this season.
“He’s obviously an incredibly high-end player,” Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner told reporters. “He definitely changes some things, but that’s what kind of happens when you get to the top four teams.”
These four squads set a high bar for the rest of the league. As they look to raise their own standards, the Blues must emulate the Hurricanes in particular.
Carolina has an excellent coach, a strong culture, a successful system and an army of solid 200-foot players.
Like the Blues, they play in a market that wouldn’t withstand a lengthy tank-and-rebuild plan.
Like the Blues, they are also unlikely to attract elite free agents. Rantanen gave the Hurricanes that reality check after that franchise inexplicably acquired him and his expiring contract from the Colorado Avalanche.
Rantanen was never going to sign a new deal to play in Raleigh. Everybody paying attention knew he would choose free agency.
Still, Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky traded forwards Martin Necas and Jack Drury to get Rantanen and Taylor Hall in a three-way deal with the Chicago Blackhawks.
After realizing he should have stayed in his lane, Tulsky moved the recalcitrant Rantanen to the already-loaded Stars ahead of the league’s trade deadline.
Carolina got two-way forward Logan Stankoven, two first-round picks and two third-round picks to make that deal and avoid losing Rantanen for nothing.
The Hurricanes plugged the sturdy Stankoven into their system and gave Hall a contract extension, hoping to salvage something from his twilight years. If used wisely, those extra draft picks could ease the pain from this misstep.
Rantanen got what he wanted out of his pending free agency: market-value dollars ($96 million over eight years with no state taxes) and a fresh start on an established big-city power.
The Moose got loose against the Avalanche and almost single-handedly defeated them in the first round. After besting his buddies Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, he will take his shot at McDavid and Draisaitl.
Rantanen’s adventure reminded us there are haves and have-nots in the NHL, even with the salary-cap system. And as the cap rises, the big markets (especially those not subject to state income tax) will see their advantage grow.
But just as the Blues won a Cup without superstar power, the Hurricanes could too. And just as Carolina is making a deep run this spring, the Note could do the same within the next few years if the team keeps strengthening its identity.
The ’Canes are getting great goaltending from Frederik Andersen. They are smothering opponents with machine-like efficiency at both ends of the ice, as the Washington Capitals just saw.
“It was suffocating. Guys had no space. We could barely get shots off in that series,” Capitals coach Spencer Carberry said. “They make it really, really challenging on you.”
Shutdown ’Canes defenseman Jaccob Slavin is making life hard on opposing scorers. Power forward Evegny Svechnikov has caught fire. Seth Jarvis has become one pf the sport’s best two-way forwards.
Carolina’s system is holding. Its culture is holding.
While the Blues don’t have a Rantanen or a McDavid, Robert Thomas might be an even better version of Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho. Dylan Holloway would be the St. Louis version of Svechnikov. Colton Parayko could replicate Slavin’s impact by finding another level of tenacity around the net.
If the Blues tune in to the playoffs this week, they will see the similar ’Canes still standing, still setting a high standard they hope to meet again.
“It’s special knowing that whoever we put on the ice, we have a chance to win,” Jarvis noted. “We all play the same way, which is the biggest part. We know what to expect out of each other. Now it’s just a matter of getting over this hump and taking the next steps to become a championship team.”
The Blues have been there — they’d like to do that again someday.
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